Correspondent with Christianity Today, sympathetic observer with the people of the Middle East
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Articles by Jayson Casper
The Manifold Trauma of Middle East Wars
Celia Khater, a Lebanese clinical psychiatrist, had just finished another long day of counseling. Client after depressed client confessed their loss of hope, lack of motivation, and struggles with anxiety. Teenagers concerned her the most. Khater works also as the counselor for Beirut Baptist School, where her calendar is full. It didn’t used to be that way. When she began her practice 16 years ago, parents of troubled students wouldn’t answer her phone calls.
Yes or No on “Christian”
Arab reaction to the new name for the Evangelical Press Association. The Evangelical Press Association (EPA) is now the Christian Communicators Network (CCN). Late last night the EPA announced the results of its referendum on the unanimous board recommendation to rename itself. The 300-member organization, representing over 20 million readers, considered the reasons behind each new term and approved the initiative 57 to 42 percent.
How Arab Christian History Challenges the Arab Christian Present
A Middle Eastern scholar honors the forgotten genius of his people. Imagine yourself as a Jew in first century Galilee. You have taken an interest in a rabbi named Jesus, whose message about some confusing “kingdom” both resonates with and differs from the faith as you’ve always known it. Rome crucifies him as they do with so many, but your heart comes alive as his closest followers tell you God raised him from the dead. You join the community. You break bread together. God is redeeming his people.
Os Guinness Still Challenges Christians to Think
Best-selling British author Os Guinness never planned to be a writer. America helped make him one, with a little help from Switzerland. Since then, hundreds of thousands of readers have turned to the Christian public intellectual to understand both their walk with God and their place in the world. Guinness’s 1998 title The Call, perhaps his most widely recognized book, helps believers discover their God-given purpose in life.
Os Guinness Still Challenges Christians to Think
3 hours ago Asha Sharma, the 38-year-old chief executive of Microsoft’s Xbox division, approaches questions with the camera-ready positivity of Zohran Mamdani and the corporate pragmatism of Sam Altman. Like those other millennial leaders, she answers swiftly, with proverbs on demand. “Great things happen over …
If God is a War Criminal Who Will Defend Him?
A quiet tension filled the conference hall as Yousef al-Khouri appeared on screen. Born in Gaza, the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College (BBC) in Palestine then unpacked his provocative title to a capacity crowd composed mostly of fellow Arabs—When God Becomes a War Criminal.
Toward an Arab Evangelical Theology of War
Last year in Lebanon, Bassem Melki sat with a grieving grandfather. Director of peacemaking and non-formal training for the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS), they met during the institution’s annual Middle East Consultation (MEC) on the theme of interpersonal reconciliation. Recognizing the deep fissures in his region, Bassem had convened the previous two MECs on similar topics, bringing in regional experts to help Arab evangelicals learn how to pursue peace.
Living Water for the Middle East
The Beirut River is barely a trickle. It hardly seems right to call it a river. Crossing one of its six bridges into Lebanon’s capital, one sees mainly a massive channel conveying an inch-deep seam that fails to stretch across its concrete expanse. The river once watered the premodern city. Known in ancient times as the Magoras, local tradition has St. George slaying the dragon along its banks. Its source lies 6,000 feet above sea level, passing through 30 municipalities that drain its flow.
How a Kidnapping Shaped a Missionary Couple’s Ministry
Sitting alone in a tepee-like shelter made from sticks collected by a dry African riverbed in 1974, 24-year-old Debbie Dortzbach stitched the words of Psalm 34:4 onto a white bandage from her captors’ helicopter first aid kit. The phrase “I sought the Lord and he heard me” alternated colors, as thread was in short supply.
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Reporter, Ambassador, Advocate, Bridge
A while back I participated in a spiritual retreat. The guide led us in a practice of contemplative drawing to sketch out the state of our hearts, since our minds might put messiness too neatly in order. As I scribbled myself in stick figure form, my arms grew increasingly longer, stretching across a bottomless canyon to the cliffs on either side. My wavelike limbs reached out to two groups of smaller stick people, both turned toward the chasm. But we didn’t connect.
O. Palmer Robertson’s Long Defense of Covenantal Theology
Faithful to his original charge to Presbyterian delegates in 1973, Robertson has agonized in defense of the unity of Scripture. Through tragedy and joy, in church and classroom, he has promoted it. And at the 50th General Assembly of the PCA in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2023, he urged his fellow elders to honor their heritage of theology, holiness, and missionary service.
O. Palmer Robertson’s Long Defense of Covenantal Theology
In December 1973, members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) revolted against their church leadership over liberal drift. Affiliated seminaries had denied the infallibility of the Bible. Education committees had questioned Mosaic authorship of the Bible’s first five books. Fearing even the beloved Westminster Confession was at risk of being watered down, 296 delegates gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, to launch a new denomination.
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How the German Head of Global Evangelicals Worked with the Muslim World
German theologian Thomas Schirrmacher knows the Muslim world well. The former head of the World Evangelical Alliance (2021-2024) has advocated in Saudi Arabia to officially permit the Coptic Orthodox mass, in Gambia against a sharia law constitution, and in the United Nations with Iran on behalf of its persecuted church. This is only a sample. Schirrmacher said he has visited every Muslim-majority country in the world. In most, he has met with top government and Islamic leaders.
The Middle East Family of Churches is Missing Crucial Members
Michel Abs is older than Middle East ecumenism. Born in Lebanon in 1951, the general secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) witnessed an original Protestant impulse grow to include each of the four church families in the region—Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical. In 1924, the United Missionary Council focused on foreign interdenominational cooperation.
How Once-Displaced Christians Help Now-Displaced Shiites
Since March, there have been no students at the Sultana Ghraieb Technical School in Damour, Lebanon. It is hard to know if they will return in the Fall. But as principal, Charbel Sadek’s whiteboard is nonetheless covered with inspirational phrases. Most of his students are at risk of dropping out of education altogether, and they wind up here as a last resort seeking vocational skills for hopeful employment. But due to the war, they are not here at all.
On Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese Christians
I am working on a story about the Christian-owned Comfort Hotel in Lebanon. In March it was partially destroyed by an Israeli missile targeting a Hezbollah operative, mixed in among other Shiite Muslims displaced from their homes and given shelter during the war. Linked also to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the target had already left.
Lebanese Evangelical Leader Cautious on Vance’s Support for Christians
Lebanese Christians have many friends in Washington. The head of Lebanon’s evangelical council is not so sure. Invited by Fox News to offer them a message as “a Christian man,” US Vice President JD Vance opened with spiritual encouragement. “Keep your faith in Jesus Christ,” he stated. The above political assurance immediately followed. Vance told Lebanese Christians of their allies in the US government who are trying to promote peace in the region.
The Lyrics that Might Save Lebanon (Part Two)
Part one of this article featured the story of the Strongholds worship band and its version of the classic Egyptian song “Salam, Salam” (“Peace, Peace”). Vocalist Jaime Helou described how they substituted its original biblical encouragement for a list of Lebanese locations—Christian and Muslim—that needed it most. The lyrics were altered in 2006 during the 34-day July war between Israel and Hezbollah. Fighting killed over 1,000 Lebanese (75 percent civilians) and over 100 Israeli soldiers.
The German Theologian Seeking to Bring Protestants and Catholics Together
Eleven American Pentecostal pastors sat nervously with Pope Francis at the Vatican in June 2016. The meeting, arranged by Thomas Schirrmacher, then chair of the theological commission of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), was an opportunity for the guests to ask the pontiff anything they wanted. Two years earlier, Francis had publicly apologized for past Catholic persecution of the charismatic movement.
The Lyrics that Might Save Lebanon
Dressed in white and standing in the back of a moving pickup truck, 21-year-old Jaime Helou and her fellow band members waved a white flag as they sang praise over Lebanon. Filming a music video of the famous Arabic worship song “Salam, Salam” (“Peace, Peace”), they were afraid they might be hit in the widespread bombing campaign. Israel was retaliating against Hezbollah aggression.
A Lebanese Worship Song Called for Peace. Again. And Again.
On a May evening, Claudette El Hajj organized five buses to bring 150 people displaced by the war in Lebanon to a worship night in a hilltop town overlooking Beirut. Many were Christians who had been forced to flee their homes in southern Lebanon due to heavy fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. But at least a handful of Muslims—invited by Claudette and other guests—also attended.
Local Clerics Call to Protect Lebanon’s Most Biblical City
Lebanon’s ancient biblical city of Tyre is under threat, say local Christian leaders. Last week, senior clerics from the Maronite, Greek Orthodox, and Greek Catholic churches called on the international community to stop Israel from bombing its historic quarter. Declared a World Heritage site in 1984, the 4,700-year-old city once bartered cedar trees with Solomon, witnessed Jesus heal the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter, and hosted the Apostle Paul as he visited fledgling churches.
Can American Christians Cooperate for Holy Land Harmony?
Last month, 300 Americans descended on Washington, DC for three days of worship, education, and advocacy. Their theme was a Bible verse drawn from Isaiah: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” Their cause: Uniting Against Oppression in Palestine and Israel. That title is open-ended enough to match a broad understanding of the organizer’s name—Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP).
Two Views on the Iran War + 6 = 41
If the math doesn't add up to know domestic Christian opinion, ask the diaspora. Somewhere in Tehran, a pastor is riding in a taxi and sharing the gospel with the driver. After making casual conversation he broaches the topic of faith. In the Muslim-majority nation of 93 million people, the driver is likely a Shiite but often not devout. Pleasant discussion follows, the pastor pays his fare, and leaves. Sometimes the taxi driver shares the gospel first.
Cut Off from the World, Iran’s Christians Worry, Suffer, and Pray
Surrounded by a crowd of resolute Iranians during a demonstration in London in March, Sasan Tavassoli introduced himself as a pastor to the London-based Iran International reporter covering the events. Tricolor green, white, and red flags fluttered behind him, with the former monarchial yellow Lion and Sun emblem replacing the current central stylized “Allah” of the Islamic Republic.
Swimming Pool Solutions for Middle East Christians
This is a preview post. Please consider a paid subscription for full access to MEH editorials. As my wife and I have grown older, swimming has become our favored exercise. Low impact, it preserves our health. Low tech, it gives space to think. We arrive early at our local gym, settle into two of three lanes, and do what we can to honor the bodies God gave us. Usually, we are the only ones there. But the other day another couple entered the pool area just as we were about to begin.
How to Ski When Bombs are Falling
Life in Lebanon affords many advantages. Moving here after many years in the Arab world, we noted a cosmopolitan lifestyle, a healthy respect for press freedom, and a Christian community with demographic weight. And skiing! After many years in Egypt and one go at its indoor slope in a megamall, we have delighted in the rain and snow that is regionally unique to Lebanon. But last year it was neither sufficiently wet nor cold to ski.
Are Iran and America Equally Guilty?
Three weeks before the start of the Iran war, an obscure interfaith peace group issued an unusually diverse statement. Called the Luke 10 Foundation and named after the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, signatories called Iran and the United States to take “concrete steps toward reconciliation” before catastrophe befalls the region. The statement did not forestall the attack. But Luke 10 went beyond a call for non-war.
An Unsung Iran Peace Initiative Grapples with Failure
Early in the morning on February 28, Ed Martin awoke in his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, rolled over in bed to check his phone, and let out a slow sigh. The United States and Israel had attacked Iran. With a sense of resignation, the 78-year-old went to the computer in his bedroom office to learn more. Following weeks of negotiation and military buildup, in the first 24 hours the allied nations dropped at least 1,200 bombs on hundreds of targets across the country.
The Multicolored Leaves of Healing
In the late 20th century, an Arab diplomat contrasted his country with others in the region. “[Name] is the only nation-state in the Arab world,” he proclaimed. “The rest are just tribes with flags.” Such comments can hardly lead to harmony. It is easy enough to search for the identity of this diplomat and the country he loved. And perhaps there is a place for his pride. Each nation in the Middle East has a unique history. Some trace to ancient peoples. Others trace colonial borders.
About Middle East Harmony
Middle East Harmony is run by Jayson Casper, an American journalist living in Lebanon. Resident in the Arab world since 1998 with experience also in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, and Mauritania, Jayson reports sympathetically on the region and its people. The overall goal is to increase religious understanding across lines of division, through sharing the stories and perspectives of regional actors.
Welcome to Middle East Harmony
Welcome to Middle East Harmony Thank you for your visit to this Substack page. Middle East Harmony is dedicated to two goals: First, to increase understanding about a highly contested region. Second, to increase understanding among its richly diverse people. As everywhere in the world, the Middle East suffers from bad actors. But very often the issues that separate one from another are open to multiple approaches.
Jan Karon Looks Back on 89 Years of God's Faithfulness
The author of the Mitford Years series married at 14, protested segregation, and wrote her first book at 57. Roughly 80 years ago, Christian novelist Jan Karon, creator of the beloved 15-volume Mitford Years series, stood in front of a mirror and told herself she would be a writer. Roughly five years ago, the New York Times best-selling author contemplated suicide. Karon, whose books have sold tens of millions of copies, has lived a life as rich and varied as the characters in her stories.
The 50 Countries Where It's Most Dangerous for Christians in 2026
From Syria to Sudan, believers around the world face increasing oppression and persecution. Pastor Edward Awabdeh had just finished serving Communion at the Evangelical Christian Alliance Church when he noticed members fiddling with their phones and whispering nervously to their neighbors. Many in the Damascus, Syria, church had received notifications of a suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox church, located only 15 minutes away.
Los 50 países más peligrosos para los cristianos en 2026 - Christianity Today en español
Desde Siria hasta Sudán, los creyentes de todo el mundo enfrentan una opresión y persecución cada vez mayores. El pastor Edward Awabdeh acababa de terminar de servir la comunión en la Iglesia Evangélica Cristiana Alianza cuando se dio cuenta de que los feligreses estaban leyendo algo en sus teléfonos y susurrando nerviosamente a sus vecinos.
The 94-Year-Old Hong Kong Cardinal Fighting for Chinese Freedom
For decades, Cardinal Joseph Zen has stood resolutely against China's Communist government. Three years ago in a Hong Kong courtroom, 90-year-old cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun leaned heavily on his cane. Wearing his black clerical robe and white collar, the white-haired bishop emeritus faced charges of failing to register a legal support fund to help arrested activists during the 2019 pro-democracy protest movement. Despite his advanced age, Zen shows no sign of slowing down.
Who Writes History When There Is No Winner?
Lebanon's civil war is a taboo subject. A group of Christians and Muslims is broaching it. Eight somber Muslims sat around white plastic tables on the gold-tinged red carpet of Sayyida Aisha Mosque in Sidon, Lebanon. Arabic sweets beckoned, but few partook. The seriousness of the occasion-reviewing their memories of Lebanon's 15-year civil war that ended in 1990-seemed to make several uneasy. They did sip their tea. Four were Lebanese native to Sidon. Four were Palestinian refugees.
The Priest and Social Worker Deradicalizing Jihadists in Prison
One Catholic and one Muslim, they disagree on the role of religion in their work in Lebanon, but are united in their aim. Maya Yamout stared at the hardened jihadist sitting across from her over a plastic desk in the unkempt library prison. Books littered the floor. The man, a veteran al-Qaeda militant in the notorious Block B of Lebanon's Roumieh jail pushed forward a glass of tea. "Where's the sugar?" Yamout asked. The curt question fit their relationship.
Who Are the Ismaili Muslims?
The history of this small Shiite sect includes assassinations, persecution, and periods of adherence to pluralism. This is the first of a two-part series on Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. To read part 1, click here. An 11-acre Ismaili Muslim religious center is coming to Texas. Part one of this two-part series described how the small sect of Shiite Islam will soon open the huge prayer hall and social center in Houston.
Grassroots Efforts Bring Together Diverse Sects in Iraq
Interfaith group uses projects and dialogues to push for greater religious freedom. This is the third article in a three-part series about the problem of sectarianism in the Middle East and ways the interfaith group Adyan seeks to pave a new path in Lebanon and Iraq. Read part 1 here and part 2 here. Three years ago in Iraqi Kurdistan, an adherent of the Kakai faith posted on social media that he had been called an infidel by a Sunni Muslim sheikh.
What Would a Liberal Democracy in Lebanon Look Like?
An interfaith group created a Youth Mock Parliament to imagine a nonsectarian government. This is the second part of a three-part series about the problem of sectarianism in the Middle East and how the interfaith group, Adyan Foundation, seeks to pave a new path in Lebanon and Iraq. Read part 1 here.
Will There Ever Be Peace in the Middle East?
An explainer on sectarianism, and how it keeps the region divided. This is the first part of a three-part series about the problem of sectarianism in the Middle East and how the interfaith group, Adyan Foundation, seeks to pave a new path in Lebanon and Iraq. The Middle East is a diverse region with Muslims, Jews, and Christians living together, along with each religion's many sects or denominations. Ethnically, the region is peopled with Arabs, Jews, Kurds, Armenians, and Berbers.
Does Oman's Ban on Evangelism Increase Its Religious Liberty?
An interfaith center challenges persecution group Open Doors' designation. In 2018, authorities in Oman escorted two American college students off a local university campus as they alleged the students were sharing their faith with Muslims. Omani law prohibits proselytism, and its constitution defines Islam as the state religion and declares sharia law as the basis of legislation. Depending on the nature of their offense, the students could have faced up to 10 years in prison.
Evangelism Isn't Allowed in Oman. Sharing Is.
A Christian-led interfaith group helps both Muslims and Christians explain the value of their faith. In the ancient city of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman on the northeastern shores of the Arabian Peninsula, several American Christian college students and local Muslims sat cross-legged on an oriental rug around printed passages from the Bible and the Quran.
How a Missionary Family in Lebanon Produced an American Hero
Bill Eddy's Arabic acumen served US interests and forged Middle East ties. This is part two of the Eddy family's story. To read about the Eddy missionaries in Sidon, click here. William Alfred Eddy was an American hero. Nicknamed "Bill," he received the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, and two Purple Hearts for his service in World War I. During World War II, he quit his job as a college president to reenlist and helped plan the Allied invasion of North Africa.
Why an Early American Missionary Family Was Beloved in Lebanon
Over five decades of multigenerational ministry, the Eddys pioneered health and educational outreach. Pastor Michael Sbeit stood pensively in front of the marble gravestone in the evangelical cemetery of Sidon, a Lebanese city 25 miles south of Beirut. Mediterranean Cypress trees offered shade from the sweltering summer heat, while their fallen brown needles covered the ground and obscured the inscription engraved in both English and Arabic: William King Eddy Born March 13, 1854 Died Nov.
Does the Quran Support Religious Pluralism?
Islamic scholars from Tunisia and Egypt challenge the historical record. This is part three of a three-part series about a network of interfaith centers in the Muslim world. Click here to read parts one and two. Last month, an obscure jihadist group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, Syria, that killed 25 people.
Un español del siglo XIII ofreció un modelo de amistad interreligiosa - Christianity Today en español
Las lecciones del ermitaño franciscano encontraron vida nueva en una red para el diálogo entre musulmanes y cristianos. Sentado junto a un estudiante angustiado por la guerra religiosa, un académico temeroso de Dios lamentaba el caos en Siria, la destrucción de Irak y las tensiones existenciales aparentemente permanentes en Tierra Santa. "Qué gran fortuna sería si... todos los hombres de la tierra pudieran profesar una sola religión", dijo.
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